Previous strong winds have created wind slabs in the alpine. Use caution on steep solar aspects, there are multiple buried crusts which could be sensitive to human triggered in the right location.Great skiing found on high Northerly aspects
Weather Forecast
A mix of sun and cloud for the day with localized convective flurries. Wind will be from the West at 15-35km/hr with an alpine high of -9 and valley bottom approaching 0 as the freezing level rises to 1200m. Warming temperatures and precipitation forecasted for the end of the week and over the weekend.
Snowpack Summary
A surprise 7cm of new snow overnight with 70cm of settled storm snow in the past week. Variable strong-moderate alpine winds have loaded lee features. Storm snow is settling into a cohesive slab on a buried crust/facet layer down 70-90 and showing sudden test results. This crust exists on East-South-West aspects and most reactive around tree line.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches observed in the last two days, though there have been reports of whumphing and shooting cracks within the recent storm snow on solar aspects where it sits on a crust. Cornices are large and have been reported to be failing by our near neighbors just outside the park.
Problems
Wind Slabs
Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.
Persistent Slabs
Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) in the middle to upper snowpack, when the bond to an underlying persistent weak layer breaks. Persistent layers include: surface hoar, depth hoar, near-surface facets, or faceted snow. Persistent weak layers can continue to produce avalanches for days, weeks or even months, making them especially dangerous and tricky. As additional snow and wind events build a thicker slab on top of the persistent weak layer, this avalanche problem may develop into a Deep Persistent Slab.